Thursday, September 25, 2014

The Face in the Window (and the Shadow Behind the Chair)

These were taken a couple of years back, at the Lowry House. The picture is of one of the several young actresses who has portrayed Ann Lowry (For Ann's story, and the history of the Lowry House haunting, including my own recent experience, scroll down a post or three.) wearing period dress and posing at the window where Ann is most often reported. The orange glow around the fringe of her dress is a lamp on the floor behind her. Nothing paranormal about that, I'm afraid. But when the picture was developed (actually, as it's a digital shot, printed out), the photographer noticed an unusual "smudge," an imperfection in the photo.Here is the original: Do you see the "blemish?" It's on her shoulder, there. It is most assuredly NOT a part of the dress, and only appeared in the photograph. Curious about it, the photographer enlarged the picture for a better look. That's when she discovered how much it looks like a person's face, or part of a person's face. It almost looks like the Phantom's mask in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera musical, a partial-face mask allowing the actor to sing without interference. Take a look at it enlarged, if your computer will allow it. (The one I'm currently using won't; rather it lets ME enlarge it to examine it, but it refuses to publish the enlarged photo here. I don't know if the problem is on my end of the line or if it's Blogger's fault. Oh, well.) Anyway, take my word for it. When you're looking at it in a larger form, you can easily see what appears to be eyes, the outline of a nose, a cheek, and even curls atop where the forehead should be. Try it yourself. It shows up a little better when the colors are inverted:

Later on, when someone else was looking at the photo, she exclaimed, "Oh my gosh! There's a child in the background!" We looked. At first we didn't see anything. But then we did. Do you see it? It's not as clear as the face, just a vague shadow. (Which could have been the actress's shadow--except that the light was positioned BEHIND her and would have cast her shadow FORWARD, as was the light that was coming in through the window also streaming TOWARDS the camera.) It's just an outline. Like one of those puzzle pictures, where you have to stare at it for a minute and let your eyes go out of focus before you see the other picture hidden within it. Try it with this one. Do you see?Here. I outlined it for out, along with the face.

People claiming to be able to detect the presence of spirits have told us that one of the ghosts at the Lowry House is that of a child. Is that a little boy or little girl standing behind the chair there in this photo? Was it this same little ghost who was messing with me a few weeks back? (See previous post.) We've researched the history of the House for mention of a child having died there but found nothing. There are gaps in the history. We DO know that a doctor lived there, Dr. Lowry, and that he may well have treated patients out of the House. It's certainly possible that a child died there at some point. Also, one of the runaway slaves hiding at the House (Again, see previous post.) could have been a child, and died while there. These pics do not constitute hard evidence. I wouldn't expect them to convince any skeptic. But they sure are neat, huh? And they sure are suggestive. All I can say for certain is that this picture was taken in the room where people have most often reported experiencing their "ghostly" experiences. That the window there in the picture is the same window where different people at different times have reported seeing a young woman peering down at them at a time when no one was in the House and in fact the House was derelict and locked up tight. This room is also across a short hall from the office, formerly the master bedroom (which opens onto the secret room wherein runaway slaves used to shelter), wherein I experienced MY brush with the supernatural. (See previous...Oh, heck, you should have it figured out by now. READ MY PREVIOUS POSTS!) To quote Rorschach from Watchmen: "What do YOU see?"